Venus Williams returns to Indian Wells, but for how long? | Day 2 Previews

Before each day's play at Indian Wells, we'll preview three must-stream matches—which you can do, live and on demand, on the Tennis Channel app. Click here to subscribe.

Venus Williams vs. Diane Parry

This tennis thing is getting to be a habit with Venus. So far this year, the former No. 1 has played in Auckland, Hobart, Melbourne, Austin and now Indian Wells. That comes after a summer where she competed in three hard-court events in the States. In between she got married for the first time at 45.

As that last sentence may indicate, Venus has never danced to anyone else’s drummer. She says she’s still training as hard as ever, and seems as enthusiastic about her tennis future as ever.

“I’m getting so many things right, but, you know, there had been a lack of playing matches,” she said in Australia. “So I’m playing well. I’m setting myself up each point to win points and controlling the points.”

To play more matches, you need to win more matches, and Venus has yet to start doing that again. Since last summer, she’s 1-7. But she’s not wrong about her level and her ability to hang with her opponents. Three of her losses—including one to Karolina Muchova—have come in three sets.

Can she get over the hump against Parry in the big stadium on Thursday afternoon? It’s possible. The Frenchwoman, who is half Venus’s age, is ranked 111th. She has good hands and timing, a versatile one-handed backhand, and she has already won two matches to qualify. At 5’7", though, she’ll give up a lot of height and power to the American.

These days, Venus’ level can swing wildly from set to set and match to match. I’ll say the Indian Wells crowd will help her keep that level high enough, for long enough, this time. Winner: Williams

Taylor Townsend vs. Marie Bouzkova

Where is the line between match-tested, and match-exhausted? Townsend may find out soon. Last week in Austin she played nine of them—five in her run to the singles final, four more in her run to the doubles title. Then she flew to Indian Wells and played two more singles matches on Monday and Tuesday to qualify for the main draw.

Her reward is an 11:00 date with a player ranked higher than anyone she faced in Austin. Bouzkova is 2-0 against Townsend, and is currently 54 spots ahead of her (33 to 87). But the Czech is just 5-7 this season, and while she’s more consistent than Townsend, she can’t match the American’s variety of shots when she’s on.

Like Venus, Taylor will have the crowd with her. With that in mind, I’ll say that her momentum will win out over her weariness. Winner: Townsend

Editor's Note: After this story was published, Arthur Cazaux withdrew from the BNP Paribas Open due to injury. He is replaced in the draw by lucky loser Vit Kopriva.

Michael Zheng vs. Arthur Cazaux

Zheng, you may recall, looked like he was about to become a big story at the Australian Open. The 22-year-old Columbia senior won three qualifying matches before stunning Sebastian Korda in five sets in the first round. He was a set up in his next match against Corentin Moutet, too, before an adductor strain sent him hobbling him off in defeat.

Zheng has healed since, and his performance was enough to earn him a wild card into Indian Wells. Now the world 145 will take on the 76th-ranked Cazaux of France. Like many of his countrymen, Cazaux was a Top 5 junior, and also like many of them, he packs of a lot of shot-making talent and flair into his game. His topspin forehand is particularly lethal. When he made the fourth round at the Australian Open in 2024, I thought he was destined for the Top 20. So far, at age 23, he hasn’t risen higher than 58th.

With Zheng being a newcomer, it’s hard to tell how he’ll handle Cazaux’s firepower. But he’s 6’2", he can fire his own bullet forehand, and in Melbourne, he gave as good as he got against some pretty strong competition. I’ll take Cazaux’s ball-striking, but Zheng’s match-playing. Winner: Zheng